Tis the season: Which center should top Rockets Christmas list

There’s a big difference between meeting a free agent and signing him, but for the fun of the argument, let’s assume that when Daryl Morey and Kevin McHale sit down with Nene, he will be asking them for a job, instead of them trying to recruit him to the Rockets.

This is not even close to the case. Nene is the top free agent out there. He will get many offers; some could be for the max contract that the Rockets are unlikely to offer or even to be able to offer. But let’s assume the Rockets can get Nene. And while we’re at it, imagine they can get Tyson Chandler, too.

Who do want?

In the real world, the answer is that you want the one you can get, but we’re going to base the debate on the fantasy-league notion that they have a choice. (We’ll leave Marc Gasol and DeAndre Jordan out of the discussion since they are restricted free agents and there should be a limit to the number of baseless presumptions we can make for the sake of argument.)

The comparison of the two begins with the obvious; Nene is better offensively and Chandler is better defensively. The Rockets were a fine offensive team last season. They desperately needed a center to patrol the lane and defend at the rim. Chandler is as good as there is at the job, with a championship ring due to prove it.

Chandler can score a bit without ever running a play – with the exception of an occasional pick-and-roll – for him. He also brings a great attitude.

The Rockets, however, are very aware that they need star power. Nene might not be that, but he has star quality. Make him the focal point in the low blocks and he could be the best center this side of Dwight Howard, depending on what becomes of Andrew Bynum.

He’s not Chandler defensively, but he’s better on that end than Chandler is on the offensive end. Offensively, he could be a very good fit for the Rockets, who have power forwards that can step outside (Luis Scola and Patrick Patterson), a top scorer (Kevin Martin) that does not over dribble and takes few shots relative to his production and a point guard (Kyle Lowry) that can knock down 3s and has no need to pad his scoring stats.

So, if given a choice, who would it be?

Basically, Chandler seems a better fit for the moment; Nene long term. Since the moment should not be the priority, and Nene is not a bad fit even now, the pick here is for Nene.

The correct answer, however, is still whoever they can get. Unless you’d rather dream about trading for Chris Paul and using him to lure Dwight Howard to join him – as long as we’re talking about the fantasy world.